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Written by contributing scholars who are experts in specific facets of developing Christianity, this survey provides a well-rounded introduction to the history of Christianity and is ideal for anyone interested in the impact of Christianity of world culture down through history. It shows how Christianity emerged from its original Jewish context and developed into a worldwide religion, offering perceptive studies on how its origins and development were influenced by the changing social and cultural contexts in which the founders and leaders of this tradition lived and thought. Provides detailed evidence of the influence of Greco-Roman and Jewish religious concepts and religious movements on the origins of Christianity, considers the structuring of the church conceptually and organizationally in Europe, and discusses Christianity's spread and growth in America and throughout the world. Looks at the profound impact of the culture of the later Roman and medieval world on the development of Christian doctrine and intellectual traditions and helps readers understand the reasons for the divisions between Catholic and Protestant traditions.
From the earliest interactions of Christians with the Roman Empire to today's debates about the separation of church and state, the Christian churches have been in complex relationships with various economic and political systems for centuries. Renowned theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether analyzes the ways the Christian church has historically interacted with powerful systems such as patriarchy, racism, slavery, and environmentalism, while looking critically at how the church shapes these systems today. With a focus on the United States, Christianity and Social Systems provides an introductory analysis of the interactions between the churches and major systems that have shaped western Christian and post-Christian society. Ruether discusses ideologies, such as liberalism and socialism, and includes three country case studies-Nicaragua, South Africa, and North and South Korea-to further illustrate the profound influences Christianity and social systems have with each other. This book is neither an attack on the relationship between Christianity and these systems, nor an apology, but rather a nuanced examination of the interactions between them. By understanding how these interactions have shaped history, we can more fully understand how to make ethical decisions about the role of Christianity in some of today's most pressing social issues, from economic and class disparities to the environmental crisis.
Perhaps no period in Christian history experienced such social tumult and upheaval as the Reformation, as it quickly became apparent that social and political issues, finding deep resonance with the common people, were deeply entwined with religious ones raised by the Reformers. Led by eminent Reformation historian Peter Matheson, this volume of A People's History of Christianity explores such topics as child-bearing, a good death, rural and village piety, and more. Includes 50 illustrations, maps, and an 8-page color gallery.
"Tracing the astonishing transformation that the early Christian church underwent - from sporadic niches of Christian communities surviving in the wake of a horrific crucifixion to sanctioned alliance with the state - Charles Freeman shows how freedom of thought was curtailed by the development of the concept of faith. The imposition of 'correct belief' and an institutional framework that enforced orthodoxy were both consolidating and stifling. Uncovering the church's relationships with Judaism, Gnosticism, Greek philosophy and Greco-Roman society, Freeman offers dramatic new accounts of Paul, the resurrection, and the church fathers and emperors."--BOOK JACKET.
Author Mark Noll presents the unfolding drama of American Christianity with accuracy and skill, from the first European settlements to ecumenism in the late 20th Century. This work has become a standard in the field of North American religious history.
First published in 1976, Paul Johnson’s exceptional study of Christianity has been loved and widely hailed for its intensive research, writing, and magnitude—“a tour de force, one of the most ambitious surveys of the history of Christianity ever attempted and perhaps the most radical” (New York Review of Books). In a highly readable companion to books on faith and history, the scholar and author Johnson has illuminated the Christian world and its fascinating history in a way that no other has. Johnson takes off in the year AD 49 with his namesake the apostle Paul. Thus beginning an ambitious quest to paint the centuries since the founding of a little-known ‘Jesus Sect’, A History of Christianity explores to a great degree the evolution of the Western world. With an unbiased and overall optimistic tone, Johnson traces the fantastic scope of the consequent sects of Christianity and the people who followed them. Information drawn from extensive and varied sources from around the world makes this history as credible as it is reliable. Invaluable understanding of the framework of modern Christianity—and its trials and tribulations throughout history—has never before been contained in such a captivating work.
This superb volume provides the first genuinely global one-volume history of the rise and development of the Christian faith. An international team of specialists takes seriously the geographical diversity of the Christian story, discussing the impact of Christianity not only in the West but also in Latin America, Africa, India, the Orient and Australasia.
For too long, the history of Christianity has been told as the triumph of orthodox doctrine imposed through power and hierarchy. In A People's History of Christianity, historian and religion expert Diana Butler Bass reveals an alternate history that includes a deep social ethic and far-reaching inclusivity: "the other side of the story" is not a modern phenomenon, but has always been practiced within the church. Butler Bass persuasively argues that corrective—even subversive—beliefs and practices have always been hallmarks of Christianity and are necessary to nourish communities of faith. In the same spirit as Howard Zinn's groundbreaking work The People's History of the United States, Butler Bass's A People's History of Christianity brings to life the movements, personalities, and spiritual disciplines that have always informed and ignited Christian worship and social activism. A People's History of Christianity authenticates the vital, emerging Christian movements of our time, providing the historical evidence that celebrates these movements as thoroughly Christian and faithful to the mission and message of Jesus.
Almost three-quarters of South Africans in the late-1990s call themselves Christians. From colonial times, when missionaries embroiled themselves in frontier conflicts, until recently, when both defenders and opponents of apartheid draw heavily upon Christian doctrine and ritual, Christian impulses have shaped South Africa.
[TofC cont.] The social principles of Christianity / K. Marx -- The twentieth century: Listen America / J. Falwell; The platform of the German Christians -- Western Christianity and contemporary society: The long loneliness / D. Day; Problems of religious pluralism / J. Hick -- Appendices: Alphabetical list of key terms; List of ecumenical councils; Schematic history of Christian churches. This collection of original documents, written by men and women from a myriad of diverse cultures and time periods, illustrates the variety of Christian ideas and practices of the past two millennia. -Back cover. This anthology is ideal for use in historical surveys of western Christianity, whether taught in smaller chronological segments ... or as a one-semester overview of the last 2000 years ... -Pref.